Football is becoming like Rugby League were the strength of your bench can dictate the outcome of the game.

Pompey got lucky with that last goal but if you get on the front foot the ball will run for you. We should get Richard Brown back in to show a few of our defenders how to cross a ball. That was perfect for the Speedie header !

If you've got a real understanding of how Blackburn Rovers work under the Chicken Chokers you're probably in a minority of one.

I believe Douglas has had his fair share of injuries previously.

What's the latest on Ayala and Williams ?

That's a great post CLB, it sums up perfectly what Rugby League is all about. Possibly before your time but I remember the great Alex Murphy doing the same thing, hitting the post with a shot at goal but following up to score a try, on more than one occasion. One of the most titanic games I ever saw ended 7-2

Yes, I'd forgotten how good Mike Newall was.

" A successful method " and painless then.

Years ago I used to see a young lad from Manchester on the train coming over to Blackburn. He was a real Manc and all his family were City fans. However he was a real Rovers fanatic and he had the club crest tattooed on his shoulder. I hadn't seen him on the train for a while and I thought " maybe he's got a car ". Then my son bumped into him and now he was a City fan. This was the season we got back in the Prem with Souness and I'm sure City had been relegated !

I've watched that TV programme were expert tattooists put right cock ups or other tattooists really inferior work. I must admit I'm really impressed by their designs and how they incorporate the cock ups into a nice design. I still wouldn't want one though. If you want to become really rich in the future come up with a successful method of removing tattoos, you'll make a fortune.

I'm not keen myself. All of the guys I know in my age group that have had them done fervently wish they hadn't. It's a style thing and that's ok but just look at what some people were wearing back in the 1970's and how their houses were decorated ! Things can go out of style pretty dramatically. They could be the dado rail of body decoration.

He needs balls he can run on to, not balls were he has to control them under pressure.

Play him in that old " inside right " role and give him some decent service and he'll be a threat. He needs the ball early and he doesn't want to be out on the touch line.

The first time I did mine I got up onto my feet. I couldn't really walk or put real weight on my leg and the bottom half of my leg was just numb This was a midweek match. It shows how daft I was, when the trainer came on to have a look the first thing I said was " Do you think I'll be OK for Saturday ? "

When I broke my leg it sounded just like someone had stamped on a dry branch. You could presumably hear it all around the ground. I remember watching a Rugby League game were the ball carrier was tackled around the legs and another player jumped on his back gripping his arms. The lad fell forward like a falling tree. One of the other players was running in to complete the tackle. By pure bad luck the forehead of the tackled player struck the shin of the lad running in. You could hear the crack 60 yards away over the noise of the crowd.

I played for the local representative teams as a lad. When I started work at 16 I was playing for the works 2nd team for a while. This was a company that employed 3000 people at the time ! After a year I was playing for the first team in Div 1 of the old Manchester Industrial league. That was a high standard, most teams had a few ex pro's in their teams. The standards of the facilities were high also, Brazil used one of the grounds ( Manchester Ship Canal ? ) as their training ground in 1966. That toughened me up no end, I could go toe to toe with anyone irrespective of their size. I'd played in some sort of testimonial at Bacup Borough's ground at the end of one season and had a good game. After that game one of the staff there asked me about coming for a trial at the start of the next season. I was all ready to go there when I broke my leg playing for the works team in a pre-season friendly that turned out not to be so friendly. I got going again but broke the same leg in the same place in another bloody friendly at the end of the same season. After that I only played a few more games out on the grass, I wasn't the same player although I still looked the part in 5 a sides in the gym. It's all what might have been. The dream was over at 18.

A pal of mine was playing inside forward for Stockport Boys when Nobby Stiles was playing for Manchester Boys. They played directly against each other on several occasions and my pal said Nobby was in that class as a tackler. They both joined United at the same time but my pal had a bad knee injury that caused him to have to give up the game. With today's surgery he may have been OK but back then it was a finisher.

I'm not really a big fan of this modern wing back shite. There aren't many full backs who can defend and attack equally well to a good standard, certainly not at our level. You don't seem to get the Graham LeSaux's and Alan Wright's these days. You end up with guys who are deeply average at both elements of the game and who have real problems when they're up against a pacey winger.

I don't think playing at Ewood is much of an advantage these days.

That's when you need somebody who can get around the side of the opposition. The way we play if we do bring a winger on they're usually on their weaker side so they're coming inside all the time.

The first time I saw Wharton play it was his distribution that impressed me. He didn't get too ambitious, he kept it down to 20 or 30 yard passes into midfield or to his full back and the passes were nicely crisp and accurate.

We're capable of winning all four of those games after the Barnsley game but we're also capable of losing them all.

Boro are going to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

Our goal difference is worth a point.

Players who can carry the ball like that and pull defenders out of position are a nightmare to play against. I just wish he would do it a bit more often.